Design Leader I - Interiors New Dallas, TX; St. Louis, MO

Cannon Design, Inc.; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

CannonDesign is seeking a creative and seasoned interior design leader to guide projects from concept through completion. You will articulate design goals to clients and teams, collaborate with cross-disciplinary leaders, and foster a culture of innovation and excellence across the firm.

You will mentor staff, drive design culture, and contribute to winning new work while advancing Living-Centered Design and sustainability initiatives. Travel to client sites and project locations is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor or Master degree in Architecture, Interior Design, Interior Architecture or relevant required.
• Current licensure or NCIDQ certification preferred.
• Minimum of 12 years of experience in related roles.
• LEED accreditation preferred.
• Design portfolio of built and unbuilt work with 3+ fully constructed designs.
• Third party recognition preferred.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Willingness to travel.

Responsibilities

• Lead design role, guiding the project from early phase development and setting conceptual direction.
• Synthesize client culture and goals into innovative design solutions across all project phases.
• Prepare client presentation materials and direct/co-lead design presentations.
• Collaborate with technical leaders and experts to deliver holistic design solutions.
• Incorporate performance-based and sustainable design, supporting decarbonization goals and the AIA 2030 Commitment.
• Engage in business development activities to expand CannonDesign’s client base and pursue opportunities.

Skills

Leadership

Client relationships

Presentation skills

Communication

Team collaboration

Education

Architecture/Interior Design degree

Job description

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking a creative leader who has the skills, experience and a growing reputation that reflect the importance of this role in our interior design practice. You will help us achieve our goal to be one of the most innovative, creative, and highly regarded design firms in the world. You will contribute to office leadership, nurturing and developing our people and culture and being a voice for design excellence to your colleagues, clients and the outside world.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL DO

Your primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Perform in a lead design role communicating and representing design goals to the client and the team for the life of the project, with particular emphasis on early phase development. Partner with team members, co-lead visioning and set conceptual direction. Collaborate with teams throughout all phases of development to ensure design quality. Support Senior Design Leaders on significant strategic pursuits.
• Create innovative design concepts that synthesize our clients’ culture, goals, and aspirations with the needs of people, community, society and the environment. Deliver solutions uniquely responsive to this expanded view of design impact.
• Prepare and direct the preparation of client presentation materials, including oversight and production of design visualizations, to convey the design in a compelling and sophisticated manner. Co-lead design presentations, with an emphasis on storytelling and aiding client understanding of the design. Capture and communicate key client goals and metrics and how our design solutions add value to our clients’ success.
• Work within our culture of being an integrated practice by collaborating with technical leaders, subject matter experts and others, creating holistic design solutions that fulfill the complex array of demands our projects require.
• Integrate performance-based and sustainable design strategies into design solutions. Further our goals to decarbonize the built environment and meet the AIA 2030 Commitment.
• Engage in activities that strengthen, differentiate, and promote our brand locally, regionally and nationally. Contribute to the external recognition of our work by identifying opportunities for publication and awards and contributing to submissions.

Culture, Growth and Mentorship

Partner with us in creating a strong design culture in your office and region. You will be responsible for:

• Mentoring and growing emerging professionals toward future creative leadership. You will assist in nurturing an environment that exemplifies collaboration, experimentation, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
• Recruiting and retaining design talent.
• Creating a stimulating and rewarding environment that sets the tone for design excellence and demonstrates it across the firm.
• Empowering staff and delegating effectively; building high-performance teams by encouraging innovation and continuous improvement.
• Provoking critical thinking and critique of our work.
• Leading by example, contributing to project pursuits that represent our future selves and advance our Living-Centered Design philosophy.

Client and Business Development

You will be responsible for developing and maintaining client relationships; building client trust and loyalty; and collaborating in bringing in work. You will be expected to build upon CannonDesign’s legacy clients, as well as your own prior relationships for these purposes. You will seek out and identify new client opportunities for CannonDesign in collaboration with the business development and marketing teams.In service of top line success, you will have a contributory goal of $1M in net signed fees, in collaboration with your office practice and market leaders.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• Bachelor or Master degree in Architecture, Interior Design, Interior Architecture or relevant required.
• Current licensure or NCIDQ certification preferred.
• Minimum of 12 years of experience in related roles. Interiors project experience preferred.
• Additional accreditations and/or training relevant to this role is preferred, including LEED.
• Design portfolio of built and unbuilt work for which you were both primary and contributing designer. Must contain 3 or more fully constructed building designs representing a high level of design excellence.
• Third party recognition (awards, publications) preferred.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Must be able to understand and execute business strategy.
• Must have professional acumen and maturity demonstrated by the ability to communicate authentically and respectfully.
• Travel required.

For a general overview of our benefits, please visit our careers page at https://www.cannondesign.com/careers/benefits

ABOUT OUR FIRM

CannonDesign is a design practice where strategy, experience, architecture, engineering, and social impact converge. We don’t just dream up solutions — we create and bring them to life in ways to solve some of the biggest challenges facing our clients and the society. At the heart of everything we do is Living-Centered Design, a bold commitment to using our talents to not just improve the world but to truly reshape it for the better. It’s more than a philosophy — it’s who we are, and it drives us to make a meaningful, lasting difference every day.

ABOUT WORKING HERE

• We are relentless in our pursuit of client adoration (not simply satisfaction). Consistent delivery of the best service is what we are about.
• We are committed to ensuring our practice provides equal opportunities for all employees, as we strive to connect with communities around us and focus on the future of design. We support equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts that benefit all employees through the leadership of our DEI Council, our Employee Resource Groups which are open to everyone, and other community initiatives.
• We’re about communication and transparency here. If you want to talk to someone about an idea you have, or a challenge that needs addressing, we’re ready for you.

As a condition of employment, all employees are expected to complete mandatory training, including compliance training, within required timeframes and adhere to our internal policies and our Code of Conduct.

CannonDesign is an Equal Opportunity Employer. CannonDesign is committed to maintaining a work environment that is free from any and all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment. It is therefore the firm’s policy to prohibit discrimination and harassment against any applicant, CannonDesign employee, vendor, contractor, or client on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. It is also CannonDesign’s policy to prohibit any and all forms of retaliation against any individual who has complained of harassing or discriminatory conduct, or participated in a firm or agency investigation into such complaints.